Leaders of the four main parties competing in the provincial election, Christy Clark of the Liberals, Adrian Dix of the NDP, John Cummins of the Conservatives and Jane Sterk of the Greens, squared-off in a radio debate at CKNW in Vancouver, B.C., April 26, 2013. The debate was moderated by host Bill Good.Jason Payne
/ PNG

Leaders of the four main parties competing in the provincial election, Christy Clark of the Liberals, Adrian Dix of the NDP, John Cummins of the Conservatives and Jane Sterk of the Greens, squared-off in a radio debate at CKNW in Vancouver, BC Friday morning April 26, 2013. The debate was moderated by host Bill Good. Pictured is Adrian Dix.Jason Payne
/ PNG

Leaders of the four main parties competing in the provincial election, Christy Clark of the Liberals, Adrian Dix of the NDP, John Cummins of the Conservatives and Jane Sterk of the Greens, squared-off in a radio debate at CKNW in Vancouver Friday morning April 26, 2013. The debate was moderated by host Bill Good.Jason Payne
/ PNG

Leaders of the four main parties competing in the provincial election, Christy Clark of the Liberals, Adrian Dix of the NDP, John Cummins of the Conservatives and Jane Sterk of the Greens, squared-off in a radio debate at CKNW in Vancouver Friday morning April 26, 2013. The debate was moderated by host Bill Good. Pictured is Christy Clark.Jason Payne
/ PNG

BC NDP leader Adrian Dix and BC Liberal leader Christy Clark leave a all candidate radio debate in Vancouver, B.C. Friday, April 26, 2013. British Columbians will go to the polls May 14.Jonathan Hayward
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Leaders of the four main parties competing in the provincial election, Christy Clark of the Liberals, Adrian Dix of the NDP, John Cummins of the Conservatives and Jane Sterk of the Greens, squared-off in a radio debate at CKNW in Vancouver Friday morning April 26, 2013. The debate was moderated by host Bill Good.Jason Payne
/ PNG

Leaders of the four main parties competing in the provincial election, Christy Clark of the Liberals, Adrian Dix of the NDP, John Cummins of the Conservatives and Jane Sterk of the Greens, squared-off in a radio debate at CKNW in Vancouver Friday morning April 26, 2013. The debate was moderated by host Bill Good. Pictured is John Cummins (left) and Christy Clark.Jason Payne
/ PNG

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VANCOUVER - Premier Christy Clark went on the offensive during Friday morning’s election radio debate, relentlessly pressing NDP leader Adrian Dix on his decision to oppose an expansion of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline between Alberta and Burnaby.

“For Mr. Dix it’s a different position every day depending on what the polls and the politics tell him to do,” Clark said.

“You conceal your position on Kinder Morgan for months, you conceal your platform and what you want to do on the issues that matter to British Columbians for months,” she said.

“If you’re concealing those things from us, what else are you concealing from us?”

Dix responded that he made a clear pronouncement Monday on the Kinder Morgan pipeline. It came during a campaign event in Kamloops, where he said an NDP government would not allow a pipeline expansion if it meant turning Metro Vancouver into a major exporter of oil.

“What I’m saying is clearly, now, where I stand: That I don’t think that this harbour, this port, should become an oil tanker export port,” he said during the debate.

“The question really is: Do we want to transform the purpose of the pipeline?”

But he was unwilling to say when he had changed from his earlier position of wanting to wait for Kinder Morgan to submit its formal proposal before making any pronouncements on the project.

“Obviously — because as all of you know I take these issues very seriously, I’ve done a lot of work on them over time — obviously we’ve given considerable thought over time to them,” he told reporters after the debate.

“But the time I made the decision was when I made the announcement (on Monday).”

Friday’s radio debate focused heavily on the two controversial pipeline projects — Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion, and the new Northern Gateway pipeline project put forward by Enbridge — as well as approaches to budgets and the economy.

The sparring session provided a preview to Monday night’s television debate, expected to be a high-stakes showdown over the same key issues.

That debate will put the four leaders on a stage together for 90 minutes during prime time, in a format that will allow them to ask questions directly of each other.

Dix landed his own punches during Friday’s radio debate, taking on Clark over the budget her government tabled in February.

“The only person in B.C. who thinks the budget is balanced is Premier Clark,” said Dix.

Green party leader Jane Sterk and B.C. Conservative leader John Cummins seized on the same issue.

“You don’t balance a budget by a fire sale of government assets,” said Cummins, who also sought to distinguish himself during the debate as the leader who supports both the Kinder Morgan and Enbridge pipelines.

“It’s a safe way to move oil and to suggest otherwise is not responsible and untrue,” he said.

Sterk called the Liberal budget an “election budget” that would have to be torn up after people go to the polls.

She said she believes the Greens are perfectly suited to be an effective watchdog for whichever party forms the next government.

“I think the people of British Columbia can make a decision about how they want to shape the next legislature, whether they want to continue that two-party antagonistic kind of system or whether they want a constructive alternative that brings a watchdog voice into the legislature,” she said.

The debate was held as a poll shows the Liberals have gained slightly since the election began, but are still trailing the New Democrats by a major gap of 14 points.

Conducted by Angus Reid, the poll found NDP support is unchanged from mid-April, with support from 45 per cent of decided voters.

It found the B.C. Liberals have increased three points from that time to 31 per cent, and the B.C. Conservatives and Greens both dropped slightly, netting 11 and 10 per cent respectively.

Conducted April 24-25, the poll involved 812 members of an online panel. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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